Kenyan Security Forces Fight to End Mall Siege After 69 Die

By Sarah McGregor and David Malingha Doya -
Sep 23, 2013

A series of large explosions and
automatic gunfire rocked an upscale mall in the Kenyan capital
where as many as 15 al-Qaeda-linked gunmen have held an unknown
number of hostages since an attack two days ago.

Dozens of soldiers, some of them carrying heavy machine
guns, and an army tank were seen at the main access road to the
Westgate mall in Nairobi at about 1:15 p.m. Thick black smoke
was seen billowing from the four-story building. At least 69
people have been killed since the raid began, while 63 are
missing, the Kenya Red Cross said earlier today.

“We’ve just managed to rescue some hostages,” Police
Inspector-General David Kimaiyo said on his Twitter account
after the latest blasts. “We urge the public to stay away from
Westgate and its environs for their own safety as we intensify
our operations to end this cruel act,” the Kenya Police said in
a separate statement.

The attack was the deadliest in the country since the 1998
bombing of the U.S. Embassy in downtown Nairobi that killed 213
people. Al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamist militant group, claimed
responsibility for the raid. The group had threatened to strike
Kenya after it deployed troops in Somalia in October 2011 to
fight the militants whom it blamed for a series of kidnappings
and the murder of a British tourist in Kenya. Al-Shabaab denied
the accusations.

Shilling Weakens

The shilling weakened as much as 0.3 percent and traded 0.2
percent lower at 87.50 per dollar by 2:13 p.m. in Nairobi on the
first day of trading since the ordeal began. On the Nairobi
Securities Exchange, the FTSE NSE 25 Index dropped 0.2 percent
to 164.32.

“The risk for an attack on Westgate or another of
Nairobi’s upscale malls was high and well known, but also very
difficult to prevent entirely,” Clare Allenson, an Africa
analyst at Eurasia Group in Washington, said in an e-mailed
note. “However, the lack of adequately equipped police first
responders and generally poor communication and coordination of
early efforts to secure the building underscores the weak state
of Kenya’s security institutions overall.”

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who lost a nephew in the
attack, appealed for support from the public as security
officials attempted to “neutralize” the gunmen and ensure
people trapped inside the building are freed unharmed.

“We will punish the masterminds swiftly and painfully,”
Kenyatta, 51, said in a nationally televised press briefing.
Foreigners including three Britons, two French people, two
Canadians, a South African, a Chinese, Ghanaian poet Kofi
Awoonor are confirmed among the dead.

Kenya’s prestige has already been shaken by International
Criminal Court indictments of Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, for their alleged involvement in crimes against humanity.
The men are accused of organizing violence following a disputed
election in 2007, charges both deny. More than 1,100 people were
killed in two months of ethnic and political clashes.

The court today allowed Ruto a one-week absence from his
trial, which began on Sept. 10, to permit him to deal with the
crisis.

Upscale Mall

The Westgate Mall caters to wealthy Kenyans and foreigners
with about 80 shops that include cafes, a casino, a multi-screen
movie theater and a children’s play area. Survivors of the
attack hid in air vents, supply closets and washrooms for hours
and found different ways to escape including jumping onto a
next-door building or were escorted by security officials, some
clutching children and crying.

The anarchy in Somalia that followed the removal of
dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 has given al-Qaeda a base to
set up operations for eastern Africa.

World leaders and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have condemned the attacks and offered to help. President
Barack Obama called Kenyatta yesterday to express his
condolences and reiterate U.S. support to bring the attackers to
justice, according to a statement from the White House.

U.S. Representative Peter King, a Republican member of the
House intelligence committee, said he’s worried that the group
may attack in the U.S. Al-Shabaab is one of the only al-Qaeda
affiliates that has actively recruited in the U.S., King said
yesterday on ABC’s “This Week.”